Meanings
plural wild-goose chases · alternative wild goose chase
- figurativelyidiomaticA futile search, a fruitless errand; a useless and often lengthy task whose execution is inordinately complex relative to the value of the outcome.
I went on a wild-goose chase all over the town looking for that adapter until I discovered they no longer make them.
2 more examples
Diagnosing this software application's problems is a wild-goose chase because it is built in an environment that has poor debugging tools.
From the beginning he has never concealed his belief that Professor Challenger is an absolute fraud, that we are all embarked upon an absurd wild-goose chase and that we are likely to reap nothing but disappointment and danger in South America, and corresponding ridicule in England.
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLCSynonyms: merry dance, exercise in futility, fool's errand, snipe hunt, snark hunt
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA futile search, a fruitless errand; a useless and often lengthy task whose execution is inordinately complex relative to the value of the outcome.
Origin
Early recorded use refers to a type of 16th century horse race where everyone had to try to follow the erratic course of the lead horse, like wild geese have to follow their leader in formation. Mentioned in 1593 in the English poet Gervase Markham’s book about horsemanship. Also mentioned in the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene 4 by the character Mercutio: “Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.” Mentioned in Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy (1621). Common use in the current may be the origin for the sport sense.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 竹籃打水 /竹篮打水, 徒勞 /徒劳
- 竹籃打水 /竹篮打水 (zhúlándǎshuǐ)fruitless, futile pursuit
- 徒勞 /徒劳 (túláo)fruitless, futile pursuit
Finnish neulan etsiminen heinäsuovasta, hukkareissu
- neulan etsiminen heinäsuovastafruitless, futile pursuit
- hukkareissufruitless, futile pursuit
German but see sinnloses Unterfangen, fruchtloses Unterfangen
- but see sinnloses Unterfangenfruitless, futile pursuit
- fruchtloses Unterfangenfruitless, futile pursuit
Hebrew מרדף שווא
- מרדף שוואfruitless, futile pursuit
Irish gogaille gó
- gogaille gófruitless, futile pursuit
Italian ricerca inutile, ricerca vana
- ricerca inutilefruitless, futile pursuit
- ricerca vanafruitless, futile pursuit
- caccia ai fantasmifruitless, futile pursuit
- sforzo inutilefruitless, futile pursuit
Polish szukanie wiatru w polu
- szukanie wiatru w polufruitless, futile pursuit
Portuguese caça aos gambozinos
- caça aos gambozinosfruitless, futile pursuit
Scottish Gaelic air gnothaich na cuthaig
- air gnothaich na cuthaigfruitless, futile pursuit
Spanish búsqueda inútil
- búsqueda inútilfruitless, futile pursuit
Ukrainian шукати вітер у полі
- шукати вітер у полі (šukaty viter u poli)fruitless, futile pursuit
Welsh chwilio am nyth cwhwrw
- chwilio am nyth cwhwrwfruitless, futile pursuit
Cite this entry
wild-goose chase. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wild-goose%20chase
“wild-goose chase.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wild-goose%20chase. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wild-goose chase,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wild-goose%20chase.
Source: wild-goose chase on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.